Well, I’m in Chicago, sitting at my kitchen table, eating a cheese stick, watching it rain. It’s my third day in the big city, but I already feel like I’ve been here for days, weeks even! Our days have been jam-packed with activities. Yesterday we went to the Newberry at 9:45 and then to the ACM Program office for lunch, dinner and a Chicago neighborhoods scavenger hunt, and we didn’t get back to our apartment until 8:00! Long, long day.
Front of our building. It’s 15 floors! (We’re on 6th.)
We (me, my dad and my little brother) left Cedar Rapids at 5:30 am on Monday morning and drove pretty much straight through to Chicago. Stopped in Reagan’s birth place to eat breakfast, and that was about it. We got to the apartment, unloaded, unpacked, and everything went pretty smoothly. We had a few hours to kill before I had to meet up with the group for a neighborhood tour, so we went down the street (see: next door) for lunch, then did our own neighborhood tour. My dad wanted to see the Newberry and I wanted to figure out how to get to the Lake Front Trail, so we went to both of those places (much to the chagrin of my little brother’s aching feet). Then we got back to the apartment, said our goodbyes, and I was all alone in the big city.
Driving into the city!
In front of the Newberry! (Not pictured: me and my little bro, me and my dad; not enough room for all three and I can’t pick between those guys!)
This is the farthest I’ve been from home (for this long at least) ever. I went to college five minutes away from my house, so this is the first big “college” move I’ve had. Everyone kept it together though, my mom in the morning, and my dad in the afternoon. And since then I’ve been too busy to be homesick, but I’m sure it will catch up with me soon.
View from our window
Yesterday was our first day at the Newberry Library itself. I need to get some pictures of the inside of the library because it is gorgeous! I’m going to be distracted from my research just looking at all how beautiful the building itself is! Anyway, we got an introduction to the library and a tour, and then went to the ACM office down by the Loop to do our neighborhoods scavenger hunt. We were all assigned groups with other ACM Chicago program students and sent by either bus or train (we had to use both) to a pre-selected Chicago neighborhood. My group was sent (way, way north) to Albany Park. We got some good pictures of the places we had to get to. The best part was that at the end, every group picked up food that ACM paid for at some restaurant in the neighborhood and brought it back for a huge pot luck back at the ACM offices. My group brought back Persian rice and kabobs, but there was also ribs from Obama’s favorite BBQ place in Hyde Park, egg rolls and fried rice from Chinatown, and hummus and falafel from Wicker Park. I ate more than I needed, but you’ve GOT to fill up on food when it’s free right? 😉
Picture from the Middle Eastern neighborhood in Albany Park
Gorgeous on-ramp to the Francisco brown line CTA stop
Then we headed back to our apartment to do seminar readings (our first in-semester homework!) to prep for our first seminar class meeting. I’m nerdy-excited for class to start. I just want everything to get going!
Also, I’ve gotten out and ran the past two mornings, and the Lake Front Trail is lovely. There are always tons of people, and it’s only a couple blocks (literally) from my apartment. I just take a tunnel under Lake Front Drive and voila! I’m at the beach, ready to run. The mornings have been pretty cool because it’s rained overnight the last two nights, so that’s an extra perk. I’m really looking forward to my race on Sunday! As long as I can kick this cold that my brother gave me (I got sick Friday, which was inconvenient since it was my last weekend in CR), my race should go really well!
Lovely view for running on Tuesday morning
A Gift on the Run 